Arkansas might be sitting on 19 million tons of lithium

• Lithium in a Smackover Formation could provide nine times the global demand for EV batteries
• The lithium deposits could be the key to U.S. battery production
• Lithium mining was extensive in North Carolina until the 1980s

A lithium deposit located in southwestern Arkansas could hold enough of the metal to satisfy global EV battery demand nine times over, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-led study.

The study, based on water testing and machine-learning analysis, estimates between five million and 19 million tons of lithium in the Smackover Formation. Even the low-end estimate is equivalent to more than nine times the global demand for lithium use in EV batteries in 2030, as currently estimated by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the USGS notes.

Also extending under parts of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, the Smackover Formation is a remnant of an ancient sea that dates from the Jurassic period. It’s known for rich deposits of oil and bromine, but the USGS believes lithium can be commercially extracted from the brine (high salinity water) brought to the surface during oil and gas extraction operations.

The U.S. currently imports more than 25% of its lithium, according to the USGS. Despite having one of the largest supplies of lithium, U.S. production faltered in the 1990s due to cost issues. More than 80% of global lithium is sourced from Australia, Chile, and China, with the latter nation controlling more than half of the world’s lithium processing and refining capacity, according to a 2022 CNBC report.

BMW cylindrical battery cells

But the USGS estimates that there is enough lithium brought to the surface in oil-production brine waste streams in Arkansas to cover current estimated U.S. lithium demand. That would help achieve the Biden administration’s goal of building a domestic EV supply chain. The administration has already turned to the Defense Production Act to ramp up availability of lithium and other battery materials, and added raw-material sourcing requirements to the federal EV tax credit, in support of those goal.

Efforts have also been made to restart lithium production in areas where it once thrived. In 2019, a mining company sought permits for a new lithium mine near Charlotte, North Carolina. Lithium was mined extensively in the North Carolina foothills until the 1980s.